Friend In Need
by amy1oM
Summary: A friend can sometimes make your burden lighter. Spoilers for THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, PARTNERS IN CRIME, and THE FIRES OF POMPEII


**Friend In Need**

**By **Lomeinie ( 2cbetter2 lomeinie )

**Rating: **PG

**Spoilers:** THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, PARTNERS IN CRIME, THE FIRES OF POMPEII

**Beta: **torneledhwen, who I thank for her help when my normal beta wasn't able to help me!

**Word Count: **1,343

**Summary:** A friend can sometimes make your burden lighter.

**Disclaimers:** I don't own the Doctor or Donna Noble as both belong to the BBC. I have made NOTHING off of this and as a result I expect not to be sued!

0o0

Once the adrenaline and initial shock from witnessing the destruction of Pompeii had worn off, Donna Noble had all but fallen over with exhaustion. After they'd left for the second time the Doctor had set the controls to take them into the vortex, and had left the ship there without setting new destination coordinates because he knew before they went anywhere new Donna would sorely need the rest. In fact she crashed not two minutes after he welcomed her aboard so his next action was to point her to the direction of her room.

Donna of course protested at his efforts to get her to go to bed but the Doctor shook off her attempts, "We're not going anywhere else until you've rested for at least six hours."

She might have protested a bit further if not for the huge yawn that erupted from her at that moment, "I think you're right then. Goodnight."

The Doctor watched her leave, calling out "Pleasant dreams." just before she completely vanished from the control room. For awhile after she'd left the Doctor just stared at the TARDIS wall as the dying screams of Pompeii echoed cruelly in his ears. His nose was still full of the volcanic ash, and his eyes started to burn to the point they watered.

However the screams were the worst because they soon blended themselves in with the dying cries of his own lost people. The Time Lords had faced their own extinction with the greatest dignity any people had mustered together but even so that had not stopped their screams as Gallifrey and their own bodies incinerated before them.

Sensing her Time Lord's growing distress, the TARDIS suddenly and quite deliberately blew a minor circuit on her console.

The act proved quite effective in bringing the Doctor out of his memories, and he began to wave a hand to clear away the new smoke while surveying the self-inflicted damage on his TARDIS. Seeing that the damage was minor but it would still mean a few hours of repair work, he began removing the floor grating to gain access to the affected area. He removed his jacket then rolled up his sleeves, and before he disappeared in the floor he looked up at the ceiling to say, "Thank you."

Two and a half hours later the Doctor emerged from the hole in the floor. He replaced the grating, and with a stretch headed for the kitchen for a cup of tea. He was almost to there when he decided that maybe he should go and check on Donna before having a cuppa. A turnabout later, he was standing outside her door, undecided about whether or not he should knock before poking his head into her room.

The decision was suddenly made for him when he heard Donna yell something in an agonized tone. He opened the door, hoping she wasn't the type to sleep in the nude and that she wouldn't want to slap him again for entering without knocking. Much to his relief both fears were very short lived. As the door opened he saw her thrashing about in the bed fully clothed.

Donna cried out again, her voice so terrified even though he couldn't make out the words he was certain he knew exactly what she was dreaming about. He watched her for few moments very aware she'd probably want to kill him if she woke and found him in her room. But even knowing that didn't stop him from moving even closer to her bed.

Donna thrashed again, turning her back to him, "No! Don't go. . . don't go to the shore! Go to the hills! The hills!"

After he heard the words that confirming his suspicions about what she was dreaming, the Doctor moved closer to the bed until he was standing close enough to touch her. Leaning over carefully the Doctor touched her left temple with one hand and instantly Donna's sleep became a very peaceful deep one. Stepping back he watched her for a little while making sure what he did had really taken before he quietly slipped out of her room.

He held off his thoughts at bay until he had reached the kitchen and made himself that cup of tea. He then sat at the table and was so lost in thought that he didn't touch his tea again until well after it had grown stone cold.

The Doctor remembered his very first time meeting Donna. He recalled her horrified reaction to how he'd dealt with the children of the Racnoss Empress. She had actually had had pity on them despite what the Empress had wanted to do to her personally. She'd listened to the screams of the empress as her children died and then she'd had enough pity to tell him to stop what he was doing.

She was just as magnificent as anyone he'd ever met and so before he could stop himself the words _"Come with me." _had slipped out of his mouth. But she'd turned him down and rightfully so after what she'd seen him do. However she didn't let him go with making him promise to find someone to travel with him. He'd lied, told her didn't need anyone and she'd responded with _"Yes, you do. 'Cause sometimes I think you need someone to stop you."_

He then went forward in his memory to relive the next unexpected adventure he'd had with Donna to stop the Adipose invasion. Because he'd literally just run into Donna at the Adipose headquarters, and because their lives had been in danger he'd allowed her to stay with him. He hadn't really planned on asking Donna again to come with him and he'd have left her behind to live out her life on planet Earth if she hadn't had other ideas. Before letting her on board however he had tried to make clear to her how the consequences of traveling with him could leave her life in ruins.

Their direct involvement in the destruction of Pompeii had all too soon proven the point he'd been trying to make to her that night. He knew for the rest of her life she would be trying to find a way to live with the fact she'd helped to condemn twenty thousand people to their fiery deaths – even though the fate of the whole world had been at stake. It was a burden he wished she didn't have to carry because he knew full well how heavy it could be, how the knowledge you'd caused such a massive loss of life could drag you down until you felt unworthy of the very next breath you took in.

Yet Donna had hardly hesitated to help him do what had to be done. He'd been prepared to shoulder alone the responsibility of ending those twenty thousands lives, of adding their human horror filled screams to the cacophony of death that rang in his memories since Gallifrey's end. But then Donna had given him a look that said she was equally prepared to share in the responsibility and had placed her hands on his.

In the moment Donna accepted half of the responsibility, she had made his own burden a little lighter to bear. She'd become the latest human of a long line who was willing to sacrifice something of herself for him. What was it about him that made them want to risk their lives and sanity for him​? He didn't know and he knew he was unworthy but he continued to thank Rassilon for Donna Noble and others like her. They made his life worth continuing to live, and the least he could do was to help lighten Donna's own burden.

**FIN**


End file.
